Graf Edmondon Special Boots

[Littlelady]

HELP !!!!!!
I've recently bought some Graf Edmonton Special boots and they are killing my feet. I've only been managing to wear them in the house to try and break them in, but they are soooo uncomfortable that i'm getting pins and needs in all areas of my feet and my heels even go completely numb. Does anyone have any
suggestions to cure this problem or magic ways to break them in.... or DOES ANYONE WANT TO BUY THEM !!!!:cry:

[icestalker]

Pin and needles, numbness is signs of circulation cutoff. Tie the skates looser, you should be able to get a few fingers in between the skate and your shin. Any skate would cause pin and needles when tied too tightly.

Or they could be too small, which also cuts off circulation. If your toes are compressed by the top of the skate, if the ball of your foot is pressured across the widest part, or if your ankle bones hurt, the skate is probably too small, in either length or width.

[Query]

Agreed. "Pins and needles" happens if it is tight in even just one spot that affects blood supply, or puts pressure on a nerve. Doctors say these things can do serious damage, so deal with it quickly.

Go back to the boot seller and see what they can do. If they are good, they will fix it for cheap or free.

You can make extra space by removing or replacing the insole with something thinner. There are many ways to stretch leather a little, but removing the insole is fast and easy and permanent.

If you want to sell them, perhaps you should list boot size and your location?

[sk8tmum]

a) who fitted them? If it's a skate shop, go back and have them checked. If you want to return them, or think they may be mis-sized (which happens) - you do not want to make alterations that would prevent an exchange.

b) have you worn this model before? Did they fit properly?

c) (may seem silly, but ...) - are you wearing them same thing on your feet that you were wearing when you bought them? We solved one confusing fit issue with a skater when we pointed out that having them fitted in tights then skating with them in thick sweat socks was likely a consideration.

[fsk8r]

HELP !!!!!!
I've recently bought some Graf Edmonton Special boots and they are killing my feet. I've only been managing to wear them in the house to try and break them in, but they are soooo uncomfortable that i'm getting pins and needs in all areas of my feet and my heels even go completely numb. Does anyone have any
suggestions to cure this problem or magic ways to break them in.... or DOES ANYONE WANT TO BUY THEM !!!!:cry:

Are you me?! I'm having the same problem. Once on the ice it takes the first 20mins for them to settle down (I have to readjust laces often sorting out the front of the foot where they kill), but once they've settled, the pain dies down, and then at about 90mins my feet just give up. I normally skate from 90mins to 2hours at a time... It is getting better though. I've just got to make sure I tie them loose enough at the front and then tight enough going up the hooks (while still loose enough to bend knees).

They are getting better (not that I really believe this), but I am lasting longer on the ice.

Once question, have you had them heat molded and are there any particular places you want punching out? I recommend the heat molding, and I'm currently thinking of getting the pinch points punched out.

[Littlelady]

Thanks for your help.... I tried size 4.5 on in one shop and they seemed so comfy in normal socks but the my toes were touching the ends so when i got back home i ordered the 5 and when they came i was told they were the right length... but i've never been convinced that they fit as i feel as if my feet are too broad in them as the sides are pressing against the boot. I've tried loosening the laces which has improved the numbness but the pain on the sides hasn't improved.. They also seem to dig into my arches which hurt. I've tried heating them with the hairdryer in them and also tried them in the oven..... I can't take them back as i had Coronation Ace blades fitted to them....my only option is to try and sell them. I've only worn them twice on the ice for 10mins but it's too painful to try any longer.

[Sessy]

Which width size are your boots? I'm guessing S or M, and from the sound of it, you need an XL. In short, your skate shop messed up measuring (if they even did that at all) and no amount of punching out is going to help with boots that are the wrong width to a point where they pinch off nerves, you'd need to punch out the entire heel all around. I'd frankly go back to the shop and demand a refund/exchange.

BTW if you have wide feet you could look into Edea, personally I have fairly narrow feet and I like my graf edmontons and I completely "drown" in Edea boots which leave enough space to stick a finger inbetween my heel and the skates on the sides, lol.

[Sessy]

90mins to 2hours at a time... It is getting better though. I've just got to make sure I tie them loose enough at the front and then tight enough going up the hooks (while still loose enough to bend knees).
They are getting better (not that I really believe this), but I am lasting longer on the ice.


Eh, had the same problem until I took the insoles out of mine and put my orthopedic insoles in.

BTW, TS, all else failing - removing insoles could give you the extra space you need... They are glued into the Edmontons though, removing them without damaging is pretty hard.

[Littlelady]

Thanks but neither store mentioned width fittings, i wasn't aware that they came in different widths, think i'm just going to have to try and sell them, i don't want to start messing with them as i won't be able to sell them on then..
pretty expensive error to make and i know the shop won't take them back especially since i've had blades fitted..

[Query]

i know the shop won't take them back especially since i've had blades fitted..

Until you ask the manager, you don't know. If a good shop makes such a mistake they will make good. That's part of why these things are so expensive. If the shop won't take them back, or find a way to fix the problem, talk to the manufacturer, including a mention of the fact the store fitter didn't mention the availability of multiple widths, which is perhaps negligent. They may take them back, or suggest a procedure for handling the situation, such as going to a more skilled fitter for an analysis. Act quickly, though. Contact info for Graf is at http://grafskates.com

Either way, be nice - most merchants respond badly to being yelled at. Of course, if that doesn't work, you could say you will sue if your feet die - which is possible, if extreme. Or threaten to tell everyone at the local rinks that the shop is bad. But never threaten until all else fails.

Since there was a store fitter involved, you should not have to accept responsibility for making such a mistake! And it could be a manufacturer error too.

You tried what sk8mum hinted at - very thin socks (which most skaters believe optimal), or tights, or none at all?

Sessy said:
>removing insoles could give you the extra space you need.
>They are glued into the Edmontons though, removing them
>without damaging is pretty hard.

I hate that! You know for certain that they are glued in that solidly? Many boot and shoe makers just glue them lightly.

BTW, are your feet still growing? If so, I think you should be fit slightly large, rather than small.

[Littlelady]

the ladies in the shop are sooo nice and i don't want to create a fuss, but i wish out of the 2 stores someone could have told me about the different widths then all of this wouldn't have been a problem.... i've look on the graf site but i'm not sure where the store would have ordered them from.. I'm just going to try and sell them on ebay and hope i can get a decent price for them seeing as i've only had them on the ice twice for 10mins max. Thanks everyone for all your help.
Ps my feet aren't growing anymore and i can't wear any thinner socks than i have been with them... i'm just cursed with fat feet and sensitive bones.

[fsk8r]

Eh, had the same problem until I took the insoles out of mine and put my orthopedic insoles in.

BTW, TS, all else failing - removing insoles could give you the extra space you need... They are glued into the Edmontons though, removing them without damaging is pretty hard.

They glued the insoles? I hadn't tried taking them out but am debating getting orthotic insoles at the moment and had thought it would be like my Jacksons and I could just pull them out.

But I figure that some of the pain is me getting used to tieing them the right way and breaking in the leather a bit more... It's just like any other new pair of shoes.

[Sessy]

Well let me put it this way. I was unable to remove them from my boots without chunks of the lower layer of the insoles coming off. It's a kind of foam material so it pulled off really easily. From the top, the insoles still looked ok but if you turned them around at the bottom there were whole chunks out where the glue was applied and those chunks had stayed behind in the boot and I had to remove them from there by hand.
However. Mine were from a Swiss factory, and bought 3 years ago. Yours would likely be from the Canadian one, and of the new Graf line (they redesigned last year I think, slight alterations only), so you may be lucky and they won't be glued.

[Sessy]

the ladies in the shop are sooo nice and i don't want to create a fuss,

That's the worst reason I've heard all day for not getting a service you can reasonably expect as a customer. If they didn't tell you about different width sizes they kind of dropped one there and just because they're nice is no reason at all to let them get away with that so easily. You don't have to create a fuss, be polite, but make sure to get your problem solved that's all. :)
Edmontons are pretty expensive skates, you buy that stuff you should at least be able to trust the expertise of the shop, especially if they fitted you for it. Don't let the store walk all over you like this!

(btw, my boots have the width on the bottom, I think... they're currently in the storage box since skating starts only in september and I've only got my snow whites on hand so I can't check for you without going to the basement of the appt building and it's spooky down there at this hour... anyhow they have the width on them somewhere, or on the box, so you should be able to check.)

But yeah seriously for broad feet, you should check out Edea when you have a chance.

[Isk8NYC]

the ladies in the shop are sooo nice and i don't want to create a fuss, but i wish out of the 2 stores someone could have told me about the different widths then all of this wouldn't have been a problem.... i've look on the graf site but i'm not sure where the store would have ordered them from.. I'm just going to try and sell them on ebay and hope i can get a decent price for them seeing as i've only had them on the ice twice for 10mins max. Thanks everyone for all your help.
Ps my feet aren't growing anymore and i can't wear any thinner socks than i have been with them... i'm just cursed with fat feet and sensitive bones.
I usually suggest pulling out the insoles to check the size against your foot, but if they're glued down, that won't work.
(Test to be sure - one of my students had a nice pair of Riedells that the mother was certain had glued-down insoles, but they were just really tightly fitted. They lifted out easily once I slid a thin screwdriver underneath. I just tried it gently. There are skates with glue under the insoles, though, so that might be the case.)

Go back to the shop(s) and be honest: tell them that you didn't know that skates came in different widths and that these are really painful. Ask them to remeasure you and write down the proper size and width. (So you know for certain. I tend to forget things, lol.)

If you're stuck with them, stretching is probably the only hope. Ask the pro shop if the boots can be exchanged (you can reuse the blades) or if they can be adjusted/stretched for width.

I know of a handful of pro shops that would understand and focus on the customer over the profit. First of all, don't bad-mouth or discuss the situation with anyone else. You don't want the story to get back to the pro shop and give them a bad impression of you.

Offer to pay a restocking fee, which would allow them to take the skates back and resell them at a discount.

Smart vendors know that a satisfied, happy customer will tell two friends, and they'll tell two friends, and so on, and so on. Not-so-smart vendors will let you quietly turn others away from their store. Unfortunately, the latter is much more common these days. sigh

[aussieskater]

Thanks for your help.... I tried size 4.5 on in one shop and they seemed so comfy in normal socks but the my toes were touching the ends so when i got back home i ordered the 5 and when they came i was told they were the right length

It really sounds to me like the shop has not ordered what you tried on - that you tried on a wide, and they've supplied a narrow, or something of the sort. It's especially notable that you ordered the larger size than what you tried on, and by your description what you got is still heaps narrower than your sample (it should if anything have been fractionally wider than the sample). Have you checked the width sizing of the sample?

the ladies in the shop are sooo nice and i don't want to create a fuss, but i wish out of the 2 stores someone could have told me about the different widths then all of this wouldn't have been a problem.

Honestly, if the shop hasn't ordered what you tried on and everyone agreed fitted, then that is their error. If the sample is markedly different to what has been supplied, then that may well be a manufacturer error (made narrow, stamped wide), or a supply error (ordered wide, supplied narrow) etc. Whatever the error, it's the shop's issue to put right, including talking to the manufacturer. Any decent pro-shop should be willing to try to help - the market for skates is not so large that they can afford the bad publicity of a seriously unhappy customer!

Good luck talking to the shop - I hope the issue can be resolved for you.

[Isk8NYC]

That's a good point Aussieskater. I hope the OP knows what size and width s/he tried on and ordered.

I learned a long time ago to take a paper and pencil into the pro shop and write down the size and width measurements from the try on and from what you order. I check it when it comes in, before the skater tries the skates on. Once burned, twice shy.

Sometimes, the manufacturer makes a mistake and sends the wrong size or width. By the time they arrive, everyone's forgotten what was ordered and you wonder if the skater was growing exponentially when the new skate order doesn't fit, lol.

I once had blades moved from old-to-new skates that were in stock. The new skate box said Size 5C, the boots themselves said 4.5B. Someone at the pro shop had put the skates back in the wrong box after a try on. The poor skate tech had already moved the blades on the first boot when he realized the error, so the pro shop was stuck with the wrong-size boots with holes in them from the mounting.

[aussieskater]

(a little off-topic)

Isk8NYC - good idea to write down what precise size you've measured, but our pro-shop runs a nasty trick: they have a sign behind the till saying that if you want a fitting you pay $30 (rebated off the price of the skates if you buy them from there), but that even if you pay the $30, they won't tell you what size they've measured you at! They say the fee is for the service of "fitting", not for the service of "telling you"!

I have no problem with them charging a fitting fee if you don't buy the skates there, but in my view that fee must include telling you what they did?? They freely admit that the reason they don't tell you is so that you can't go off and buy online (we pay a premium of 30%-plus, buying through a local dealer rather than online). There are no other pro-shops in town (and this pro-shop is the distributor for the brand country-wide), so we're stuck - there is nowhere else to go.